⁴⁰Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

The identities of some of the women who were present at the crucifixion of Jesus are revealed here.  John also lists Mary the mother of Jesus as being there with them, but he says they were close enough for Jesus to talk to them (John 19:25-26). The other gospels all say they were watching at a distance. In any case, most of these women were probably wives and relatives of the apostles. It would not have been considered proper for a bunch of single women to be following a bunch of single men around. It makes sense that the wives, mothers, and sisters of the disciples would travel with the group and take care of their needs. By this time, they were all family.

The Burial of Jesus

⁴²It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁴⁴Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy man, and a prominent member of the Sanhedrin. John says he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews (John 19:38). He must have been there at Jesus’ trial, but did nothing to stop it. Now, perhaps out of guilt, he goes to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. When we feel we should speak up for Jesus, but don’t because we’re afraid, we may regret it bitterly later. By the time we find our courage, it may be too late. Even now, Joseph is taking a risk because of his position. Those who followed Jesus at that moment had good reason to fear for their lives.

Normally, the bodies of the crucified were left on the crosses to rot or be eaten by animals. But the Jews would not stand for that horror being on display during Passover, so Rome allowed the bodies of those crucified during Passover to be given to the families for a proper burial. But even then, someone had to go and request the body. Since Jesus’ mother, Mary, was a widow, and probably poor, they might not have had a tomb available, or at least not one this nice. But Joseph of Arimathea did, and he offered it to Jesus. This was probably a tomb he had had cut out of the rock for himself, the way we buy grave plots in advance for ourselves and family members. Tombs like this were not cheap, and Joseph didn’t know he was going to get the tomb back in a few days. He thought he was losing the use of it forever.

Death by crucifixion normally took much longer than it took for Jesus, so Pilate was surprised that Jesus was already dead. After confirming it with a centurion who was there, he gave the body of Jesus to Joseph. According to John, Nicodemus went with Joseph, and bought myrrh with aloes to treat Jesus’ body for burial (John 19:36). Two prominent members of the Sanhedrin who believed in Jesus, but who were afraid to stand up for him while he was alive, now did what they could for his body. But they were also helping Jesus’ family. As men of means, they could give Jesus a better burial than Mary could have given him. Even if we have missed “God’s best” for us, there is always something we can do for Christ and his kingdom. It could well be that the generosity of Joseph and Nicodemus helped legitimize the testimonies of Jesus’ resurrection. Because of how secure Jesus’ burial was, in a tomb cut from rock with a stone over the entrance, and a Roman guard posted, stealing Jesus’ body was impossible. Even though the authorities spread that rumor after the resurrection, their story had less credibility than it would have had if Jesus was buried in a pauper’s grave, which anyone could dig up. Would Joseph and Nicodemus have been able to stop Jesus’ death if they had defended him at his trial? Probably not. But by coming forward after his death, and doing what they could for him and his family then, they probably caused more people ultimately to believe.

*Jakarta Globe, 6 February 2009

A man climbs quietly from a grave and closes a white burial cloth that shrouds a skeleton. The bones are the color of burned earth and in pieces. A maggot scuttles to hide behind the empty eye socket of the skull. After more than 30 years of interment, all that is left of a once middle-aged adult now fits into a small bundle.

A weathered, wooden plaque with jagged edges bears the name the skeleton once answered to.

At Menteng Pulo Public Cemetery in South Jakarta, the air is fresh with the scent of blossoming trees and rich earth. A lone mottled mutt threads cautiously among the graves, its skin matted and reddish from the rain and earth. She sits on top of a grave, observing as 50 gravediggers calmly go about their work. They are not burying the dead but raising them, literally, from their graves.

Along a large strip of land near the Cideng River, 10,600 square meters to be exact, emptied graves with ragged edges line the cemetery. The workers have been commissioned by the city administration to unearth about 3,500 plots to make way for a highway linking Jalan Soepomo and Jalan Rasuna Said.

“Traditionally, you cannot disturb the dead,” sayd Entong, the head gravedigger. “But this is a city that is developing, and they need to expand the road.”

Inside an open grave, Entong breaks up the damp soil with a rusty hoe. His black jeans and feet are encrusted with red earth. He hands the last of the unearthed bones to his assistant to wrap in cloth and take to another burial plot that has been allocated for the exhumed bodies.

“This one was buried in 1962, so there are very few bones left,” Entong says, pointing to the decomposed bundle of bones about the size of an infant.

Entong climbs out of the grave and begins to break the gray headstone with his hoe. Pieces of stone fly around him. He has to remove the name plaque embedded in the stone so it can be placed with the remains for identification. His skin is burnished from the 32 years he has worked outdoors as a gravedigger.

“People call me first when they want to bury someone,” Entong says.

On this overcast morning, no weeping or hushed prayers for the displaced dead are heard, only the thud of hoes hitting the soil. Entong says it has been two months since the excavation of the graves commenced and it is scheduled to end next week.

“At the beginning there were more relatives,” Entong says. “Now it is rare for families to come even though we have informed them we will be digging up the graves. Maybe they have moved. Maybe they can’t bear the process.”

The majority of the graves are Muslim but Entong estimates 800 Buddhist graves will also be uncovered this week.

The remains are being moved to new burial plots further down the road. Unclaimed remains are moved to a cemetery at Kampung Kandang in Cilandak or to Srengseng Sawah Cemetery in South Jakarta, Entong says.

The ground is soft as paste from the ongoing Jakarta showers and he flings it around him as he hoes. An errant and persistent fly flits around his bare feet.

“We take the remains out, wrap them up and then knock down the gravestone,” explains Suroh, a caretaker at Menteng Pulo since the ’70s. Wearing a red shirt, a large mole jutting from his chin, he watches Entong work in the distance.

“I do not cry at anyone’s funeral,” Suroh says. “I am used to them.

“We are here to fix their homes, their final resting place.”

It is noon when Entong rests inside a makeshift wooden hut in the middle of the cemetery. The soiled clothes of the caretakers hang to dry nearby on headstones and from overhanging trees.
A caretaker chugs on a motorcycle down the narrow dirt road that runs through the cemetery, ferrying four white bundles to an ambulance for relocation.

“It is funny. Kaplok, kaplok, kaplok is the sound of the bodies flapping,” says Suroh as he watches.
“We are all the same. In the end we will die,” he adds as he deeply inhales from a clove cigarette.
Under the cool shade of the hut, the men sit in their mud-caked clothes, sipping hot, milky coffee and talk lightheartedly about death. Entong recounts a time when he had to break the legs of a corpse.

“If I didn’t, they wouldn’t fit into the cloth,” he says.

The kain kapan, or burial cloths, are rough pieces of white cloth two meters in length. “These ones cost Rp 12,000 [about $1],” Entong says, pointing to a pile of fabric in a cupboard. “Cheap ones.”

The hush is disturbed by the arrival of Iwan Suwandi and his family. Together with his wife, Suwarti, his sister, sister-in-law and grandson, he has come to rebury his son Rachmad.

“I was shocked to get the notice from the cemetery,” Suwandi says, of being notified of the disinterment. “I found out at Lebaran,” he adds.

A gentle-looking man with glasses and specks of grey through his hair, Suwandi had been ill for the past three months and unable to come to Menteng Pulo earlier.

Wearing a tan fishing hat and checkered shirt, Ali greets Suwandi, whom he knows. The caretaker has been tending Rachmad’s grave since he was buried here four years ago. An old hand, Ali has worked at cemeteries since 1948 and takes care of 100 plots in Menteng Pulo.

Rachmad, Suwandi’s third son, died of liver problems at the age of 24. “I wanted to move him to Bogor but we have no family there,” says Suwandi, who instead asked for his son’s body to be moved nearby within the Menteng Pulo cemetery.

Entong is called upon to dig up the body.

“It is his job to dig. We each have a duty,” explains Suroh, whose own position is caring for the graves, like Ali.

Entong alternates using his hands and the hoe to scoop out the earth. The burial cloth is laid on the ground beside the grave and he begins to place the unearthed chunks of bone on it. Two assistants crouch nearby to lay them out on the burial cloth. Standing above his son’s grave, Suwandi’s face is placid as he calmly inquires about the whereabouts of his son’s skull.

The wooden headstone reads, Rachmad H. bin Iwan Suwandi, etched black upon painted white wood. Slivers of the skeleton’s rib cage are taken out one by one. Entong continues to dig and finds a hipbone. Finally, he finds the skull. Suwandi places his hand over his mouth and lets out a small gasp. The family begins to pray. A sniff escapes Suwandi as he continues to look at Entong in the grave.

“His legs aren’t here yet,” Suwandi says.

Entong clears the mud from his hoe and continues digging.

The air is hushed and the smell of rain is heavy on the breeze. “We forgot to bring an umbrella,” Suwandi says to his wife, who nods agreement. Their 7-year old grandson, dressed in blue, has his hand on his knees and keeps his gaze intently on the open grave. The women look distressed.

When Ali comes over to help wrap the bones, Suwandi asks if the bundle is heavy. Ali says it isn’t. Three men wrap the bundle tightly and hand the bones to Suwandi. With steady steps on the slippery, rain-soaked earth, Suwandi carries his son to a prepared burial site, mouthing a silent prayer.

A little way up the road from where Rachmad was originally buried, a gaping hole six feet deep awaits. The small congregation stops, and Suwandi hands the bundle to a gravedigger as he jumps in the grave. The body is gently returned to him and the gravediggers tell him to open the bundle. “All of it,” says one as the other balls up chunks of soil with his hands. “It is to prop up the body so it does not overturn,” he explains.

Suwandi carefully tucks his son into his resting place and two men start to fill in the grave. An imam in a black velvet skullcap, propping himself up with a multicolored umbrella, asks for the name of the deceased and begins a low chant. Only the boy’s name, Rachmad, rings out as the imam crouches by the grave. All else is quiet save for the sound of hoes hitting the ground.

The mother opens a prayer book, her face partially hidden under her black jilbab as she prays along with the imam. Her grandson stands behind her, holding her arm.

Suwandi straightens his son’s old headstone and turns his palms up to the sky. The imam moves toward him and they pray side by side. The earth atop Rachmad’s new grave is choppy and uneven but Ali explains it will be tidied later. He takes out a clove cigarette, lights it and stands before this new grave he will also care for.

A warm wind blows. From a nearby mosque, the resonant call to prayers rings out, echoed softly by surrounding mosques.

(photos: JG/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

1. Here Comes The Son

2. A Long Cold Lonely Winter

3. The Ice Is Slowly Melting

Jackie Paper Came Back.  He’s got his Gormiti Egg and his Turtle Guy, so who cares about sticker charts? Into the Big Bed at 2am.  What a waste of wistfulness. Squashed between Son 1 aged 5y 2m and The Man, and boiling hot, I clambered out and went downstairs to the Double Bed.  The Man followed later. Son 2 aged 2y 2m cried in his cot. The Man went and got him, and laid him down next to me. He pressed his soft little toddler face next to mine and went back to sleep.  

Many hours and hundreds of miles later, The Man and I were at the Aged Aunt’s funeral.  Also there: Eldest Brother, Grown Up Nephew, Grown Up Niece and her husband, Elder Brother, Sister In Law and Teenaged Niece, and Younger Sister and Godfather 2.   Lots of elderly people, lifelong friends of the Aged Aunt and my late father.   Elder Sister has cellulitis and couldn’t go.  Nanna also stayed away.  Eldest Brother, the child of my father’s first marriage, was brought up by the Aged Aunt.  Don’t Ask.   The vicar said we were Giving Thanks For and Celebrating the Life of the Aged Aunt. The churchyard was closed for burials years ago, but they made an exception for her because she wanted to be buried near her parents and her grandfather.  My father’s ashes are buried in our grandparents’ grave.  As are the ashes of Younger Brother, whose death, 10 days before my 30th birthday, wrecked everyone’s lives for years and years.   Don’t Ask. Again.  There is a lot of Stuff in our family.

Elder Brother, Sister In Law, Younger Sister, Godfather 2, Teenaged Niece, The Man and I lingered in the churchyard afterwards. The Aged Aunt’s grave was covered in flowers.  We wanted some for her, and for the Other Grave.  We walked over to a nearby florist, and everyone chose some.  Sea Holly from Younger Sister.  Cyclamen plants from Sister In Law and Teenaged Niece. Red Roses from Elder Brother.  Michaelmas Daisies from me – our childhood garden was always full of them at this time of year.  We laid them on the graves, and then walked across the town to Grown Up Niece’s house for tea and sandwiches.  We were kept away from Eldest Brother as children – yet more Stuff – and only got to know each other as adults.  I see much less of them than everyone else… I moved a long way away, a long time ago.  It was good to be there.  The Man and I drove all the way back again as night fell.  Heavy showers hammered down on the windscreen as we crossed  pitch black moorlands on the way home.  And I thought about the flowers on the graves, in the dark, in the rain.

No dia 3 de Setembro, após diversos adiamentos, o Rei da Pop foi enterrado. Colocado num mausoléu de alta segurança, ao lado de Charlie Chaplin, no cemitério de Forrest Lawn, em Los Angeles, por 157 mil euros, Michael Jackson descansa finalmente em paz. O vídeo do enterro foi produzido pela família Jackson, que controlou todos os detalhes. Para quem sempre seguiu a carreira deste ícone, o funeral foi tudo menos «normal».

Para além de a cerimónia parecer mais um encontro celebrativo entre muitas caras desconhecidas, em que estão todos a sorrir, os amigos de longa data do cantor não estavam presentes.

Mais de 200 pessoas estiveram no funeral, mas nomes como Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Eddie Van Allen, Edward Lewis, Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Joe Pesci, Martin Scorcese, Liza Minelli, Shirley Mclaine, Paul McCartney, Slash, Bill Clinton, Emmanuel Lewis , Sean Lennon, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Britney Spears, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, R. Kelly, P. Diddy, Al Fayed, Dan Ackroyd, Danny Glover, David Copperfiel, Paula Abdul, Whoopi Goldberg, Beyoncé Knowles, Carlos Santana, Baby Face, ou Alejandro Sanz, todos eles amigos chegados ao Rei da Pop, muitos deles desde o início da sua carreira a solo, simplesmente não compareceram ao último adeus. Porquê?! É curiosamente estranho que entre os convidados, os amigos chegados de Michael Jackson não estavam.

É claro que vemos uma Elisabeth Taylor, Macaulay Culkin, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordon, o reverendo Al Sharpton, todos eles sorridentes, vemos, na maioria, muitas caras desconhecidas que nem conheciam o Michael Jackson, mas e os restantes, os amigos verdadeiros que nunca o abandonaram?

Fica o vídeo. Comentem p.f.

Yeah Ghost est le dernier album en date du groupe anglais Zero 7  (zéro seven).

Ce duo masculin s’est imposé depuis sa naissance en 2000 et de son premier album ‘Simple Thing’ dans le style downtempo. Très vite, on les a mis au niveau des ténors Air & Morcheeba apparu à la fin des années 90. A la différence de ces derniers,  Zero 7 garde toujours cette même fraicheur 4 albums plus tard.

“Yeah Ghost est 1 très bon album qui s’écoute du début à la fin avec l’envie de remettre 1 replay après le 11ème morceau. Il y a dans cet opus 1 véritable identité musicale que l’on retrouve dans les albums précédents.

Néanmoins l’album précédent m’a beaucoup déçu ; “The Garden” sorti en 2006 n’a d’ailleurs pas réussi à conquérir les fans.

Seul 1 titre “Throw It All Away”est largement au dessus d’1 album très plat et vide musicalement.

Tour d’horizon de “Yeah Ghost” illustrée par 4 magnifiques vidéos filmées en live session

Dès l’intro “Count me Out”, Zero 7 nous mets de suite en émoi.

1minute et 30 secondes plus tard “Mr McGee” ajoute cette petite touche pop anglaise facilement reconnaissable au style préconçu de Zéro 7.

S’en suit “Swing”, morceau à l’accroche baladeuse comme un retour à la source de l’album “Simple Thing” (sortie en 2001).

“Everything Up” nous replonge dans l’esprit rythmé des synthés venu tout droit de la galaxie 80′.

“Pop Art Blue” s’enchaîne et on retrouve avec bonheur cette voix féminine  qui ressemble à la voix de Sia, la chanteuse qui fut révélée par Zero 7. Pourtant quelque chose attire vraiment ma curiosité dans cette voix. Après recherche il s’avère qu’il s’agit de Martha Tilston.Le duo anglais applique à la lettre ce mélange voix féminine & downtempo tellement accrocheur qu’ils ont crée il y a 10 ans. La chanteuse Sia, malheureusement absente de l’album est donc remplacée par plusieurs autres voix. Celle figurant sur “Pop Art Blue”  cristallise le morceau et moi par la même occasion.

“Medicine Man” est entrainant, pop, sautilleur, et pourrait largement faire nouvelle vie auprès de jeunes talents remixeurs.

Finalement mon coup de coeur arrive maintenant, avec “Ghost Symbol”. Tout de suite je ressens la même émotion qu’à la première écoute de ‘Untrue’ l’album de Burial et cette façon si magnifique d’associer le dub au 2 steps.

Grâce à cette diversité de titres très éclectiques, Zero 7 avec Yeah Ghost a réussi son coup.

“Sleeper” est passé à la moulinette électronica, un petit coup d’oeil rapide pour vérifier sur quel label ce disque a été signé : Warp ??? et bien non. ça sera ma seule déception.

“Solstalgia” nous plonge dans une petite mélancolie, mais on reprend tout de suite le dessus, grâce notamment à une autre petite merveille intitulée “The Road”, Ce morceau me rappelle la façon dont j’ai découvert Zero 7 et son morceau “This World” .

L’album se termine (déjà ) en puissance avec le titre “All Of Us”, un OVNI expérimental où l’on retrouve la totalité des sons entendus sur l’album.

Vous l’aurez compris, ce disque doit parvenir rapidement jusqu’à vous.  Pour vous motiver, allez faire un tour sur leur site officiel. Celui ci propose l’écoute intégrale de morceaux issus de leurs 4 albums studio.

Du coup, ça me fait aussi pensé qu’il faut voir (et/ou revoir) le film Garden State du réalisateur Zach Braff dans lequel vous entendrez plusieurs morceaux de Zero 7 et d’autres artistes que vous aimerez à coup sur.

Gigandmix

The in-laws have been in town for about a week now. My father-in-law (FIL) always brings me a bouquet of flowers. They’re gorgeous lilies that smell so wonderful.

Was sitting in the breakfast nook visiting with my mother-in-law (MIL) and we could hear the birds outside the window. She said they’ve talked about getting another pet bird — probably a canary to fill the house with singing. And this reminded her of when hubby and his two older siblings were little and would hold bird burials when one of their pets would die.

They were raised in parochial school and taught by nuns so this heavily influenced their play. The bird funeral would be a processional with Oldest Brother walking first, acting as the priest; then hubby (the Baby) as the pall bearer, carrying the bird in a shoe box; and, last but not least, Middle Sister walking along behind crying — the mourner. The unfortunate bird would be buried near the fence under the rose bushes.

Speaking of birds, in just two days we’ll be tucking into a big one for Thanksgiving dinner, which I am really looking forward to. I have always loved Thanksgiving and the ritual of  cooking the feast. There will be 9 or 10 of us this year and I have a 20-pounder to ensure several days of turkey sandwiches beyond the holiday. Yum!

Long Cist:  OS Grid Reference – SK 2624 8688

Also Known as:

• Ash Cabin Long Cist

Getting Here

Despite a footpath being marked on the OS map, there’s none I could find and the only way to get there is to make your way through the heather.  Park at the Wyming Brook nature reserve car park on Redmires road, take the signposted path besides the notice board and follow the line of the dry stone wall. Go through the gate and continue till you come to the end of the wall where a path leads off to your left through the broken wall, follow the path through the boggy bit and head uphill till you get to the highest point of the path by another wall with a path the other side.  From here it gets a little tricky! You’ll now need to go off path heading NNE and down hill till you come to the post-and-wire fencing where you should pick up a slight path heading WNW (your left) and head for the high point about half a mile in front of you. Just before you come to the high point you’ll have to cross the stream (easily done). The cist lays on the flat ground just beyond the brow of the rise.

Archaeology & History

A long cist around 3 feet wide and 6 feet long in a well preserved condition aligned almost — but not quite — East/West on a prominent position on Hallam Moor, commanding views over Ash Cabin flat, Rivelin Valley and the A57 road.  The only restricted view is to the northwest, where the moor rises then drops down again towards the Headstone.

There ares 3 side-stones still in situ: the largest around 1 metre tall, the others still in place being about 70cm.  The stones that would have made up the rest of the walls lay close by.

When you’re at the site it’s obvious why it’s in this location: the views are spectacular and afford excellent views of the surrounding area.  A burial site with a vista truly fit for a king!

Archaeologically there’s not much info kicking around that I can find and I’m indebted to Stubob for alerting me to it’s presence.  It’s very unlikely you’d be walking this area for any reason other than to visit the site, as there are decent paths across the moor to the most popular site in this area, the Headstone off to the North West.  Remains of the Ash Cabin Flat stone circle are about 750 yards southeast of here.

A real gem of a site and a “must see” if your in the area.

Listen to the newest mix: VIBRANT!

Here you got the TRACKLIST,
and after the jump there’s my explanation:

(01) Bei Bei & Shawn Lee – Make Me Stronger Feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow (Floting Points Remix) [00:00:00]
(02) Dorian Concept – Bipolar Friendship (Mar Variation) [00:04:28]
(03) Gus Gus – Anthem [00:07:19]
(04) Julien Dyne – Behind The Forage [00:10:50]
(05) Burial – Lambeth (Benji B Version) [00:14:55]
(06) Lamb – Trans Fatty Acid (Kruder & Dorfmeister Session Mix) [00:18:38]
(07) Mike Slott – 23 Halfs [00:24:19]
(08) Floating Points – Truly [00:26:37]
(09) Theophilus London – Pull My Heart Away (remix) [00:34:12]
(10) Mike Slott – Amanallah [00:37:33]
(11) Computer Jay – Distance [00:40:00]
(12) Dark Star – Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer [00:43:21]
(13) Florence & The Machine – You’ve Got The Love (The XX Remix) [00:48:07]
(14) Francis And The Lights – A Modern Promis [00:53:46]
(15) Duck Sause – aNYway [00:56:30]
(16) Dean High – Beyond The Stars [ 01:01:04]

You can download this compilation right HERE..
Dont forget to leave me a comment with your thoughts and stay tuned for more musical ejoyment in the future.
Peace J.

Tracklist Explanation:

[track 01] This track is something special! A collaboration between LA based Musician/Composer Bei Bei and UK based Multi-instrumental/Producer Shawn Lee. Vocals by the acclaimed singer Georgia Anne Muldrow. If that’s not enough UK Producer Floating Points did this crazy remix. Enjoy!

[track 02] Another blessing from my man Dorian! But I also gotta give some credits to the talented Amsterdam Based volalist Mar. That man is building a steady reputation these last months(mostly with friend and Producer Full Crate).

[track 03] I got this Gus Gus track from the PI soundtrack after a revisit to the fantastic world of one of my favorite directors; Darren Aronofsky! If your not familiar with PI yet, go and help yourself..

[track 04] Crazy track by multi-talented artist Julien Dyne Producer & Visual Artist. Check out his debut album; Pins & Digits. Good stuff.

[track 05] Great new track based around some haunted bell, with wooden 2step beat from the genius Burial! Benji B dropped this on his 1Xtra show so sorry for voiceover, there isn’t a clean version yet..

[track 06] A nice remix from the Godfathers of Lounge; The Kruder & Dormeister.

[track 07+10] New tracks from the other half of Herald Of Change; Mike Slott A.K.A. Slottkavicsthe. Coming from his long anticipated album LuckyMe. 23 Halfs is a slow-moving number rife with space-noise, warbling bass, and a variety of influences from jazz to R&B. Then Amanallah a Dilla-inspired boom-bap-crunch and ’80s synths track. enjoy!

[track 08] A fantastic track from Floating Points caled Truly of the new Vacuum EP. Truly contrasts with a gradually phasing groove, shifting between electronic minimalism and heavy smudged disco soul like few others out there!

[track 09] Simpely the best Electro/Hiphop crossover of the year!

[track 11] Distance is the immediate dancefloor track, sounding like a face-on collision of Flying Lotus style mid tempo swing beats and the very finest Skwee electronics. It can get a bit overwhelming at times with some high end frequency abuse but in a club situation this will rule.

[track 12] A love song for the mp3 generation, and however indecipherable Aidy’s digitized musings are, a sense of humanity pervades and betrays a very real sense of frustration over having a computer for a surrogate lover.

[track 13] Florence is totally over-the-top orchestral radio pop, so of course, since The XX isn’t over-the-top anything, they strip it all away and rebuild an intensely quiet 2-step/funky anthem with calypso tumbles and trademark whispers.

[track 14] Track from the follow up to the brilliant debut Striking EP which further explores minimalistic funk and passionate soul.

[track 15] The debut track from the collaboration between dance music veteran Armand van Helden and DJ A-Trak. It’s a winner with fresh guitars, synths and drums, effortlessly re-fit for today with some deft control touches by the duo.

[track 16] Closing track by newcomer Dean High.

Q: What can I do for my mother that passed away so she can be happy?

A: Give sadaqah, perform nafl salaah, if you already did your hajj then do one for her, you can do an umrah for her, recite quran, give good advice whilst sending the reward to her, read tasbeeh and send the reward to her, etc.

As can be noted, any nafl action worthy of reward can be sent to her.

Allah Certainly Knows Best.

The great-grandson of a Nottinghamshire soldier, killed in one of the first tank battles of the Great War, travels to the battlefield where he died…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: mumbai airport. The blog is also related to: travel discounts.

so tonight i went to see new moon…….. i know, how unlikely. i enjoyed it a bit more than twilight – partly because i was laughing the whole way through, partly due to the reaction of the crowd – and also it did look quite nice at times. i’ve been avoiding any talk of the soundtrack, just noticing but not following headlines on pitchfork about thom yorke and death cab contributing.

to be fair, thom’s track is quite amazing.

in other thom-related news, i picked up the collection of his remixes (or rmxs) the other day – i know i’m two years late on that, but i didn’t think it was available on cd! it’s a japanese import, i saw it in hmv, i couldn’t resist. it’s gold! i’d heard a few of the remixes already, but the field’s reworking of cymbal rush is simply mesmerising. quelle surprise.

here’s the burial remix of and it rained all night, quite appropriate a) because burial sounds best in november and b) on account of the flooding across the country this week. not that i want to make light of that horrible situation at all.

Thom Yorke – And It Rained All Night (Burial Remix)

The lonely, isolated hilltop burial ground of Ballygunner Temple Cemetery is my current focus for a series of  B&W photographs.

This old Irish cemetery once served the City of Waterford ( world famous for its Crystal glass) and was also used during the Great Famine in the 1800’s. Some graves even date back as far as 1734.

The first President of Ireland, John Moore was interred here in 1799 following his capture during the 1798 Rebellion against the British. His grave lay undiscovered for over 160 years and was accidentally found in February 1960. Two years later his remains were exhumed and taken for burial near his family home in Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

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If a genie magically granted me three wishes, one of them would be to erase any knowledge in my brain of Miley Cyrus. I know way too much about this teeny popper than I should. The sad part is that I purposely avoid her, but, much like those stalker Jo Bros, she’s everywhere, spouting absurdities to anyone who will listen. This week, she invaded my realm again inciting a media frenzy when she told Q92 that she hated all things Twilight. So, why does this teeny popper hate the single thing that girls her age around the globe are drooling over 24 hours a day? Well, she claims that she doesn’t believe in it, leading people to think that Cyrus isn’t a fan of mythological creatures, but that can’t be true. She signed on to play a teen fairy in an upcoming film. I suspect there are other reasons behind her weekly outburst. Hmmm, could it be that her arch nemesis Thom Yorke, whom she threatened to destroy because he didn’t want to do a meet and greet with her, is on the New Moon soundtrack? Or could it be that New Moon is all any one can talk about this week and the trailer for Cyrus’s new movie Last Song has been virtually ignored? Who knows the real answer. Remember, this a girl who gave an interview in a locker room dressed like Pocahontas and said she doesn’t like pop music. And there was also that time she posted that picture of her and her little friends making slant eyes and being all derogatory towards Asians. And that other time she said she hated Twitter, which she uses all the time. Seeing a pattern? As Paris Hilton breathes a sigh of relief, Cyrus is turning into the media’s favorite new joke. There is too much going on behind the music for her to be taken seriously. Why can’t the music industry push the serious artists into the mainstream and leave the teeny poppers in the land of indie obscurity? It’s because intelligence is not so easily manipulated nor exploited, duh.

And now a Band of the Week I wish was mainstream…Miike Snow!

I just discovered this super-sweet, Swedish trio. Just one listen and I was hooked. Their sound is very nostalgic yet fresh and new. I love the fusion of 60s reverb, poppy beats, and funk. They released their self titled album earlier this year. You must check out the disco worthy “Animal” and the poppy track “Song for No One.” If you’re looking for something a little slower, check out “Faker.” This band is gaining a following in Europe and we are so lucky they will be touring the states in the spring. Don’t miss them on their small club tour. It’s sure to sell out. And you don’t want to miss their fabulous mustaches in person.

Until next time, “Is that all you really have to offer?” Bad Religion - K

Sean AKA Nordic Soul is the Decibel Festival Curator and Director, he is my good friend and one of the greatest contributors to Seattle’s thriving underground music community. This is a very insightful summary of electronic music in 2009 with his Top 15 list at the bottom as well:

From Sean:

Every year it’s part of my job at PlayNetwork to come up with a list of top albums and overall assessment of music trends for the year. Below is my brief review of what I felt was a pretty landmark year for electronic music in the US and in general. Barring any incredible releases over the next month, these are my picks for the year. Keep in mind this list is strictly made up of albums; not EPs, 12’s or remixes (i.e 95% of the electronic music I purchased this year).

2009 in Review : Binary Pop, Warp’s Legacy, Dub Mutations and the Return of Sexy Dance Music

2009 has been an incredibly innovative year in relation to music production. Artists like Animal Collective, Fever Ray, Royksopp and Moderat have proven once and for all that digital beats and electronic sound design can appeal to a pop audience that otherwise wouldn’t find themselves listening to “electronic music”.

This year also marks the 20 year anniversary of the greatest electronic music label (arguably greatest label) of all time, Warp Records, which has had an exceptional year across the board with strong indie releases from Grizzly Bear and Maximo Park as well as strong releases from their more obscure electronic artists like Tim Exile and Clark. Warp’s 20th anniversary box set is not only one of the best reviewed collections of they year, it’s also a brilliant testament to the label’s vast catalog of ground breaking artists (i.e. Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Jamie Lidell, Nightmares on Wax, Prefuse 73, Autechre, Broadcast, Plaid, Battles, Squarepusher, etc).

In addition, 2009 witnessed the rise of Dubstep as a respected genre in the US through acclaimed UK labels like Hyperdub (Burial, Kode9, Joker, Zomby, Flying Lotus) and Tectonic (2562, Martyn, DJ Pinch, Benga) both of whom continue to blur the boundaries between Grime, Dub, West Coast Hip Hop and Detroit Techno. With the avid support of tastemakers like BBC Radio 1’s Mary Anne Hobbs and Low End Theory’s Daddy Kev (Alpha Pup Records) UK Dubstep and West Coast Glitch Hop / Hip Hop have both become quintessential styles on the electronic music frontline in the US. From Burning Man to this year’s Movement festival in Detroit, Dubstep and Glitch Hop have fully emerged in 2009 as a staple sound in North America.

Another emerging trend has been the Deep House and Tech House revival, which has been experiencing a resurgence the past few years as club-goers have tired of the heady, sterility of Minimal Techno and the frenetic, over the top sound of Electro House. Artists like Gui Boratto, Voodeux, Pezzner, Milton Jackson, Stimming, Mode D, Catz n Dogz, DJ T and Dixon have all helped in keeping underground dance music both sexy and musical.

Overall 2009 has been a phenomenal year for technologically driven music, proving that creativity is truly catching up with the tools used for musical expression in the digital age.

Here are my Top 15 albums of the year:

1. Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion” Domino Records

2. Various “Warp 20” (Box Set) Warp Records

3. Moderat (aka Apparat & Modeselektor) “Moderat” Bpitch Control Records

4. Fever Ray “Fever Ray” Rabid Records

5. Phil Kieran “Shh” Cocoon Recordings

6. Nosaj Thing “Drift” Alpha Pup Records

7. Jon Hopkins “Insides” Domino Records

8. Various “5 : Five Years of Hyperdub” Hyperdub Records

9. Lusine “A Certain Distance” Ghostly International

10. Grizzly Bear “Veckatimest” Warp Records

11. Gui Boratto “Take My Breath Away” Kompakt Records

12. 2562 “Unbalance” Tectonic Records

13. Modeselektor “Body Language Vol. 8” Get Physical Music

14. Tim Hecker “An Imaginary Country” Kranky Records

15. Voodeux “The Paranormal” Mothership Records

It’s something I thought about a couple months ago when a friend of our family died from complications after a asthma attack. He was only 26 years old. He had a job but didn’t have any insurance.

Like many of us today, he was probably living a check or two away from being broke. He had two children and a girlfriend. What’s sad is friends and I called around to different city, state and federal agencies to see if he could qualify for some kind of help with burial. There was none. I was sure Social Security that we all pay when we have a job would pay at least a little something. But when I looked up my question on the internet I found this post on the social security official website which says:

• A one-time payment of $255 can be paid to the surviving spouse if he or she was living with the deceased; or, if living apart, was receiving certain Social Security benefits on the deceased’s record. If there is no surviving spouse, the payment is made to a child who is eligible for benefits on the deceased’s record in the month of death.
• Certain family members may be eligible to receive monthly benefits, including:
  • A widow or widower age 60 or older (age 50 or older if disabled);
  • A surviving spouse at any age who is caring for the deceased’s child under age 16 or disabled;
  • An unmarried child of the deceased who is:
    • Younger than age 18 (or age 18 or 19 if he or she is a full-time student in an elementary or secondary school); or
    • Age 18 or older with a disability that began before age 22;
  • Parents, age 62 or older, who were dependent on the deceased for at least half of their support; and
  • A surviving divorced spouse, under certain circumstances.

$225 is something, but not much when it comes to paying for a funeral.

A local welfare office representative told me that unless he was unemployed and had absolutely no money, he wasn’t eligible. And if he was broke, they would only cover a couple hundred dollars of the funeral fee.

I know many would say — that’s why you buy insurance.

But doesn’t it seem like a raw deal, that you can pay into social security for years as a working person and not even get any of that money you paid into the system to pay for a bargain basement burial? Not even a pine box? It’s crazy. The family then has to go into debt trying to pay all of the bills associated with burial.

I know Social Security is on shaky ground these days.  But I think it would only be fair that if  Social Security took money out of your check as a working person, that some of that money pay for the cheapest burial if you have no insurance .

“If you want to highly insult a dog owner, don’t ever say ‘It was just a dog’,” said dog lover Yvonne Blevins. “For most true pet owners, it is very devastating when they lose them.”

Yvonne and her husband Roger have the cremated remains of four deceased pets in their own memorial rose garden in the back yard of their home. The couple, who have no children and consider their dogs as family, have sandstone monuments etched with the name of each pet, their nickname, years of life, and a picture. The Blevins did their own personal memorial services for their dogs, different for the personality of each animal. If they ever move, they will take the cremains, which are in boxes wrapped in plastic, and the headstones to their new home.

Pet owners can process their grief in many different ways, starting with disposal of the body. What you do with your pet’s remains can vary widely, depending on where you live, how you feel about the remains, how other members of your family feel about “what to do with Fido,” your budget, and other factors. Here are some options to consider:

1. Let the vet handle it. If an animal companion dies while at the vet’s or is euthanized in the vet’s office, they will offer to dispose of the body. In the midst of grief, this is an easy way to deal with your pet’s remains. This service may or may not have an associated cost. You may not have a say in how the body is disposed of, and you may miss a sense of closure.

2. Get the remains cremated. Options for cremated remains abound. You can keep Fluffy in a special container and create an altar to her memory with her photo and cat toys. This is a viable avenue if you rent or live in an apartment or condo. You can scatter the ashes in your yard or a special spot where your pet liked to play. You can bury ashes in your back yard and place a memorial marker.

Pet cremation costs vary based on the size of the animal, and how the cremation is handled. Best Friends Pet Services in Albuquerque offers two individual cremation options, one where the pet is by itself during the cremation, the other where it is separated from other pets in the retort, using ceramic dividers. The remains are returned in a ceramic urn. With a third option, communal cremation, a group of pets is cremated and the remains are not returned, but scattered on private land in the mountains.

3. Bury the body in your yard. This gets a little trickier — cities and municipalities have a wide range of zoning ordinances regarding burial of animal and human remains. You can check with your local land planning and zoning office to find out the rules for your area. In rural areas where folks own lots of land, this isn’t as much of a concern. Either way, remember to dig deep enough so the remains are not disturbed or become a health hazard. Check with all family members first to see if they are okay with having a “body” in the yard. All it costs is your own muscle, sweat, and tears. You can pay for a memorial stone if you wish.

4. Bury the body in a pet cemetery. While  a formal cemetery burial for a pet can be an expensive option, they can be some of the sweetest resting places for a beloved animal. You get a sense of the love that others lavished on their deceased pets, and it’s comforting to be among other pet lovers when you visit your pet’s grave. Prices for services and perpetual care can vary widely. Braemarr Pet Cemetery in Santa Fe accepts all kinds of animals, including horses. They provide biodegradable coffins, a marker, grave opening and closing, a short service if the owner wishes, and maintain the high desert landscaped grounds. Prices can range from $345 to $670, depending on the weight of the pet. You can find an online listing of pet cemeteries and crematoria at the web site for the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement.

5. Check with your local humane society. If you don’t have a place to bury a pet or the funds for disposal fees, your local humane society may be able to receive and dispose of animal remains for little or no charge.

Should you do a funeral or memorial service for your pet? Some kind of ceremony that recognizes the loss is a valuable undertaking, especially when children are involved. However, you may want to keep it a small immediate family affair, with those who were closest to the pet. There are people who don’t hold animal death in the same regard as the end of a human life. They can brush aside your feelings with “It was just a dog” and do you serious emotional harm.

Many of the elements that provide comfort in a human funeral apply to a pet funeral.

Recognize Reality: Acknowledge that the pet has died, talk about how it came into the family, lived a good life and was loved by those gathered around.

Remember: Share stories about the pet’s antics or personality traits, actions undertaken on the pet’s behalf, and treasured memories. You might gather photos, toys, and other memorabilia related to the pet.

Reaffirm Beliefs: If you believe your pet has gone to a better place, say so. If you believe you will be reunited with your pet when you leave this world, say so. If you believe the love of an animal companion is a valuable thing, say so.

Release: Close by gently saying goodbye. Cover the grave with earth and set any memorial marker or tributes in place.

By Kelly Mahan Jaramillo, Nov.19th, 2009

I have questions, and a lot of them. The “Anti-Choice” group(s) believes abortion is murder, yet are opposed to contraception.

This alone causes me to scratch my head.

In recent days, unless you have been relaxing under a rock, you all know who has been in the media spotlight all week. Yes, I swore I would not write about her, but this bit of news utterly floored me, and I am forced to say her name.

Sarah Palin is doing interviews and is now on her book tour.  First stop today is Fort Wayne, Indiana, second stop is Noblesville, Indiana.

All fine and good, normally I would be more interested in following my cat around the house than following Palin’s book tour schedule.

However, I read an article stating that the Indiana tour was going to be drawing the attention of an Anti-Choice – oh, I am sorry, they call themselves “Pro-Life”, right, right – A “Pro-Life” Group.  Nothing newsworthy there, I thought, and was about to stop reading the article and move on, when it caught my eye that this particular “Pro-Life” Group was going to Indiana to protest Palin!

To be honest, I was stunned. I thought no one could get more anti-choice, anti-women’s civil rights, than Sarah Palin.

Folks, I am wrong. Frighteningly wrong.

A group known as the “American Right To Life” feels that Palin is not committed to the issue of “Pro-Life”.

Digest that if you will. Go to “American Right To Life” and read what the ARTL has to say about Palin. I have just read who these folks believe to be true “Pro-Lifers”, and Sister Sarah is NOT one of them.  The American Right to Life group split off from the National Right To Life Group about two years ago, and has grown exponentially ever since. Scary, but true.

After forcing myself to carefully read the ARTL’s web page, articles, and beliefs, I have to ask some questions of the group. Sorry if they seem a little personal, but since you are lobbying to tell all women how to live their whole lives, I feel it is my right, as a woman, to ask you where exactly you draw the line.

ARTL couples – do you engage in oral sex?  Husbands, do your Right to Life wives perform fellatio on you? If they do, do they perform it to completion? If that is the case, well, it seems as if these wives are eating their unborn.  Or, they are using a tissue and wiping their unborn children off of their faces and flushing them down the toilet.  I mean, that ejaculate is half of life, waiting to run towards it’s destiny, only to die a horrible death of drowning or cannibalism.

So, to the ARTL men who receive blow jobs, do you refuse to have your wife swallow, and instead the two of you carefully wipe all of the ejaculate up, lay the tissue in a sturdy pine box, name it and bury it in the yard with a tiny pink and blue cross?  If you are getting your dick sucked, I sure hope you are following through with burying your future offspring, who were murdered simply because you wanted to be pleasured.

Or, do you argue that since the sperm is nowhere near the womb, it is just extra future lives that need to be snuffed due to overpopulation,and this is the only way to do it?

So, back to sperm near the womb – it seems we have the same issue, guys. If you are making love to your wife, and you are practicing safe sex contraception known as a condom, do you give that used condom a proper burial? Oh, wait, you guys do not believe in contraception, and are of course totally faithful to each other, so a condom would not be in the picture. Never mind.

Let me re-phrase the question – You have just finished making love to your wife, in the hopes that she will get pregnant, right? Otherwise, your wife is getting up to use the bathroom, and she is flushing your future children down the toilet again.  I am going to assume that after every sexual encounter their is a ritual to save the sperm, and perform last rites.

From what I gather, men, is that you use your penis only to make a baby, correct? There are no hand jobs, no masturbation, no blow jobs, no condoms, and when you have created whatever size family you have chosen, there is no more sex, right?

Well, we are all human, and if there happens to be one accidental loving unprotected sex slip up and you are saddled with a pregnancy that the two of you cannot afford, or your wife cannot manage due to overwork, stress, and/or health problems, you actually feel that you get to have a vote in what decision she makes? When it was most likely your horny ass that got her in this predicament in the first place?

I. Don’t. Think. So. You do not get to have a say in this issue. I do not care if I have to scream it from the Empire State Building – Fella’s, this is not your issue.  You are part of the problem, and you have absolutely NO voice or choice in the solution. You want to keep abortions down?  Go fuck a sheep when the manly urge strikes, and stay the hell out of women’s business. Or, hey, here is an idea:

Women get to push a healthcare bill that includes,

a) when and where sex occurs,

b) complete control over the porn industry,

c) Mandatory “24/7 hands-on, at home” child rearing.  Not “Child-support”. Actual Child Care.

and

d) Mandatory vasectomies, when we decide that we have had enough children.  Tough shit if you want more.  Go volunteer at an orphanage.

And for the record, even though it is the American Right To Life group that is protesting Palin, do not think it is just the Republicans.  There is a lovely fringe group of Democrats who are out-of-their-mind Anti-Choice also. Stupak is just the tip of the iceberg.

Democrats for Life of America. It ain’t a party issue, that’s for damned sure.

MEN! Either become one hundred percent responsible for your penis and it’s actions, or stay out of women’s reproductive business altogether.  Period.

It’s been a difficult and in many ways a hard week, for different reasons. This Monday I attended a funeral, in Jonkoping, for a close friend of the family. Funerals are never fun but can be a situation for contemplation. Besides thinking on the departed I found myself thinking on ceremonies and rites. As an archaeologist you work with the past and the remains of those who lived a long time ago. Large parts of our material are from graves; memorial monuments over fathers, mothers, sons and daughters constructed by religious and social conventions, pretty much as today.

We often read in lots of things when studying these remains, some based on the finds, some based on interpreted texts from the time and some based on reasoning. What struck me was our, mine and those attending, need of coming together, in grieving and remembering and our need to find closure and to say goodbye. In archaeology we often seem to miss this fundamental theme when discussing or contemplating burial processes, it’s more often a discussion of social dimensions, religious belief and architectural qualities. Though this is information to be found and interpreted we shouldn’t forget the person buried and what the burial meant to them who needed to remember, as individuals and not only as a society.

In loving memory of Rolf Åkerlund

My thoughts are with the family and my memories of Rolf will live on in my mind and heart.

After the funeral I went north to Ostersund, ca 900 kilometres apart, where rain and snow awaited. I had thought I would spend this week indoors writing reports etc. but it became three days outdoors surveying instead. We are currently working some miles north of Ostersund deep in the wilderness. On Wednesday it was raining and part of the ground was covered in snow; though not that much that it was impossible to read the landscape but enough to freeze your feet and this combined with the rain and the water stuck on trees made it an unpleasant experience. Today it was a lot better as there was no rain which made it quite a pleasant day. Another problem is of course the light or rather the lack of light as the sun sets down early. Yet one day remains let us hope for good weather.

Next week I’ll spend the first couple of days in Stockholm as I’ll attend RAA’s (The Swedish National Heritage Board) conference: Kvalitet i uppdragsarkeologin (Quality in exploratory/ assignment archaeology) and then continue up to Ostersund.

Magnus Reuterdahl

(World Net Daily) – A new video documentary about the Shroud of Turin makes a startling new claim about what some believe to be the burial cloth of Jesus – the body was weightless or levitating when it left the remarkable image.

via New mysteries of the Shroud unveiled.

Jag spelade ett par ackord för den gamle idag. Coolt men jag tror han hade svårt att hänga med i svänget. Ni vet jag har inte så mycket val utan lyssnar en hel del på hans musik. Den är okay även om det inte är det första man ser i musikens värld. Det är UNKLE, Burial, Gotan Project, Soulsaver, Free the funk och massa annat. Jag somnar schysst till det.

Har varit en egendomlig dag men jag diggade den. Hela familjen stack iväg tidigt imorse för jag skulle få en spruta mot giraff eller var det ekorr-sjukan. Det är kul att vara på BVC där är det alltid massa kids i min egen ålder och vi kollar in varandra och lär oss av varandra. Sprutan gjorde lite ont men jag hade inte tid med den smärtan eftersom jag misstänkte att det fanns en himla massa kul att göra utanför spruttantens dörr.

Lekte ett tag. Rutschkanan är störtskön. Hittade ett slags hus på en vägg där det gick att öppna och stänga massa luckor och i luckorna fanns grejer som rörde på sig om jag rörde vid dem. Sen slog vi följe med två andra föräldrar och promenerade ner till Tanto och jag blev sur. Mest för att jag var trött och inte ville somna i vagnen. När pappa efter ett tag gav upp sina försök och lät mig vara i Manducan så kunde jag sluta min blå ögon. Störtskönt.

Kände mig lite underlig på eftermiddagen och fick ingen harmoni i sovandet. Nåja när ni läser det här så sover jag gott. På fredag är planen BAD!!!!

Ciao

We should all do our best to adhere to living a green and eco-friendly lifestyle, although for most that level of devotion differs. You may not be someone who doesn’t use toilet paper but instead reuses cloths to, ahem…clean yourself after doing your business (it’s true there are those who do it) but maybe you try to do other smaller yet equally important gestures in your life to help reduce your footprint. Whether you fall on one side of the spectrum or the other, here’s a new way to go green even after your dead.

Cremation is apparently all the rage nowadays. Your typical 6 feet under burial has apparently become the passe way to kick the bucket. In Canda, only 3 per cent of the population got cremated 50 years ago, while today that number has sky rocketed to more than 55 per cent. Here’s the kicker (no pun intended): The amount of natural gas and electricity used to cremate one body is the equivalent of driving a car from coast to coast. When your body goes up in flames, it also emits a lot of nasty stuff: greenhouse gases, smog-causing gases, particulates, and mercury vapour if you’ve got a few of those old tooth fillings.

Given our current concern about climate change and environmental impact – innovation in this area is on the rise. In Denmark and Sweden, some municipalities are taking the waste heat from their local crematoriums and using it as part of their district heating systems. In North America, there’s a new technology called Resomation — generically, biocremation — that avoids incineration by chemically breaking down the body. A Toronto-based company called Transition Science Inc. has licensed the technology and recently signed up its first customer, cemetery and crematorium operator Park Lawn Trust, which plans to have its first Resomation system up and running in Toronto next spring.

Why go down in flames or be stuck with the worms, when you can be flushed down the toilet instead.

Here’s an article on this company and the technology from the Toronto Star. You can read the article for a detailed description of how it works. It’s actually pretty nasty — basically the body is loaded into a metal chamber that’s filled with an alkali-based solution that, under heat and pressure, turns the non-skeleton portion of the body into a soapy soup that’s simply flushed down the drain (apparently it’s benign and gets treated in our wastewater treatment system just like what we flush down the toilet). The process uses a fraction of the energy required for cremation.

For those of you I haven’t sent running to the closest waste basket,  lets continue.

Since we’re always talking about the need for cradle-to-grave energy analyses, it makes sense that we leave the world in the most energy-efficient way possible. The interesting thing about biocremation is that plastic and metal devices left in the body — knee and hip replacements, pacemakers, stents, etc. — are retrieved in perfect condition and can be recycled. Alternatively, if you’ve got land to spare, you could always be a non-conformist and have a good old-fashioned burial.

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